Small forward Khris Middleton scored 22 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks continued their recent mastery of the Miami Heat with a 91-79 victory Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. On defense the size of Monroe, Giannis Antetokounmpo and John Henson (all 6-11) can be intimidating to opponents, and the Bucks have a tall backcourt with Carter-Williams (6-6) and Middleton (6-8).
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Wade (shoulders) confirmed Tuesday morning that he’ll play later in the evening against the Bucks, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press reports. Josh Richardson has played sparingly, while Gerald Green has struggled to find consistency with his shooting. G Goran Dragic has missed five games with a strained left calf….
The Heat will not have much time to think about this loss as they will be right back in action on Wednesday night. “But it’s frustrating when the ball doesn’t move back around”.
“No matter what, we obviously have to work on our mental toughness”, said Bosh. “We tried to make it hard on them”.
“We are going to need guys to do other things on the floor”.
Miami is home for one game before embarking on a five-game road trip – and the Heat just finished a six-game excursion on Sunday by being drubbed 99-74 by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Wade sat out his second game in the last four.
Jrue Holiday scored 19 points and Tyreke Evans added 13 for the Pelicans, whove won three of four and are four games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with their next six games at home. The two combined for eight turnovers and minus-33.
“This is what you want as a professional”, coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s not even in our mindset”. They held Miami to 39 in the first two quarters. The Heat are in a tough stretch playing their next four games on the road against the Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks.
The Heat later said that Whiteside had a left oblique strain.
Then in the third quarter the Bucks took that advantage and blew it wide open-blitzing the Heat with an 18-4 run from which the Heat never recovered.
Miami can not afford to waste a home game against Milwaukee, which is bottom three in the East at 18-25.
“It was a pretty flat performance”, said Spolestra.
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As injuries have piled up throughout Wade’s illustrious career, he’s had to take on a decreased role in the Heat’s rotation. “We’re average right now”, Beal said. “It’s disappointing not living up to our standards”. We have to toughen up.
